The Sprawl

“The inhumanity of the computer is that, once it is competently programmed and working smoothly, it is completely honest.” – Isaac Asimov.

The Corporations control the world from their skyscraper fortresses, enforcing their rule with armies of cyborg assassins. On the Street, Boostergangs roam a shattered urban wilderness, killing and looting. The rest of the world is a perpetual party, as fashion-model beautiful techies rub biosculpt jobs with battle armored roadwarriors in the hottest clubs, sleaziest bars and meanest streets this side of the Postholocaust. The Future never looked so bad.

But you can change it. You’ve got interface plugs in your wrists, weapons in your arms, lasers in your eyes, bio-chip programs screaming in your brain. You’re wired in, cyberenhanced and solid state as you take it to the fatal Edge where only the toughest and the coolest can go. Because you’re CYBERPUNK. - Cyberpunk 2020 sourcebook

Night City. 2033 AD. NorCal, U.S.A. 01:30 HRS.

The rain wet street reflects the florescent lights from nearby shops like a neon inkblot test. Various shop stalls and advertisements for cyberware, fashion, tech, food, prostitution and everything else in between litter the main drag of the bustling Little China district of Night City. Stepping down a nearby alleyway, you pass a few simsense burnouts, some who are begging for a tech-fix and others who look on the verge of flat-lining. After a few blocks you emerge from the alleyway near the entrance to Paradise Lost, the nightclub where you are to meet your contact, a fixer who goes by the handle Relapse. Playing around in the Net turned you on to his job posting, and as always you’re lookin’ for a few quick creds to maybe put towards some NuTech threads, or food (whichever is more important at the moment). The job promises to be short ’n sweet, but you know better.